Guiding medically invasive devices with radiation absorbing markers via image processing

ABSTRACT

A system and method is disclosed for guiding an invasive medical device with radiation absorbing markers. The invasive medical device can include markers with different radiation absorbing properties relative to other portions of the invasive medical device. An imaging device can generate images of the invasive medical device within a patient. A trained model for the invasive medical device can be trained on annotated images of the invasive medical device annotated with marker information identifying the markers and spatial information for the invasive medical device. An imaging computer system can apply the trained model to images of the invasive medical device within the patient including depictions of the markers to determine current spatial information of the invasive medical device inside the patient. The images of the invasive medical device and visual spatial information representing the spatial information of the invasive medical device can be outputted to a display.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/712,621 filed on Dec. 12, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/831,132 filed on Dec. 4, 2017, whichclaims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/429,479,filed on Dec. 2, 2016, the entire contents of which are herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Various medical procedures involving invasive medical devices requirethe physical manipulation of these tools for the successful completionof the procedure. These procedures require precision with regard to thecorrect placement and movement of these devices for (a) completing theprocedure at hand in a timely fashion, (b) avoiding harm to the patient,and (c) limiting radiation exposure to the patient and operator. Toassist medical practitioners, two-dimensional (“2D”) imagingtechnologies have been developed to provide practitioners with 2D viewsof their progress in real time. For example, fluoroscopy and ultrasoundare imaging technologies that provide practitioners with guidance andorientation in 2D space. Some of these 2D imaging technologiesadditionally provide practitioners with 2D views of the invasive toolsthemselves on a graphical display.

SUMMARY

The document generally relates to medical vision tools to provideorientation information for medical devices within 2D image projections,which can be used by practitioners to perform image-guided procedures,including procedures performed by interventionalists (e.g.interventional radiologists, cardiologists, nephrologists,gastroenterologists, etc.) and surgeons. Medical practitioners oftenrely upon technology when performing a medical procedure. A trackingsystem can be used to provide positioning information for medicalinstruments with respect to patients, other instruments, and/orreference coordinate systems. Medical practitioners may refer totracking systems to ascertain the position of the medical instrument,for example, when the instrument is not within the practitioner's lineof sight and/or to confirm proper alignment of the instrument. Atracking system may also aid in presurgical planning.

A system and method is disclosed for guiding an invasive medical devicewith radiation absorbing markers. The invasive medical device caninclude markers with different radiation absorbing properties relativeto other portions of the invasive medical device. An imaging device cangenerate images of the invasive medical device within a patient. Atrained model for the invasive medical device can be trained onannotated images of the invasive medical device annotated with markerinformation identifying the markers and spatial information for theinvasive medical device. An imaging computer system can apply thetrained model to images of the invasive medical device within thepatient including depictions of the markers to determine current spatialinformation of the invasive medical device inside the patient. Theimages of the invasive medical device and visual spatial informationrepresenting the spatial information of the invasive medical device canbe outputted to a display.

In one implementation, a system for augmenting imaging data depicting aninvasive medical device includes an invasive medical device configuredto be inserted into a patient as part of a medical procedure; an imagingdevice configured to generate one or more two-dimensional (“2D”) imagesof the invasive medical device within the patient; a database programmedto store a trained model for the invasive medical device, wherein thetrained model was generated from one or more machine learning algorithmsbeing trained on annotated 2D images of the invasive medical device withorientation and position information, wherein the trained model isprogrammed to be used to determine orientation and position informationfrom unannotated 2D images of the invasive medical device; an imagingcomputer system; and a display to monitor the invasive medical devicewithin the patient, the display being programmed to output (i) the oneor more 2D images of the invasive medical device, as generated by theimaging device, and (ii) the current orientation and the currentposition of the invasive medical device, as determined from applicationof the trained model to the one or more 2D images. The imaging computersystem is programmed to: receive the one or more 2D images of theinvasive medical device from the imaging device, access the trainedmodel for the invasive medical device from the database, determine acurrent orientation and a current position of the invasive medicaldevice within the patient by applying the trained model to the one ormore 2D images of the invasive medical device, and output the currentorientation and the current position of the invasive medical device.

Such an implementation can optionally include one or more of thefollowing features, which can be combined in any possible permutation offeatures. The system can further include a training computer system togenerate the trained model for the invasive medical device. The trainingcomputer system can be programmed to obtain the annotated 2D images ofthe invasive medical device with orientation and position information,the annotated 2D images depicting the invasive medical device within apatient, the orientation and position information identifyingorientations and positions of the invasive medical device in theannotated 2D images, iteratively train a model for the invasive medicaldevice by correlating each of the annotated 2D images to correspondingorientation and position information across one or more model layersusing the one or more machine learning algorithms, wherein the iterativetraining generates the trained model for the invasive medical device,and store the trained model for use by the imaging computer system. Atleast a portion of the annotated 2D images can be actual images from useof the invasive medical device that have been manually annotated by apractitioner with position and orientation information. At least aportion of the annotated 2D images can be computer generated imagessimulating use of the invasive medical device within patients as imagedby the imaging device. The one or more machine learning algorithms caninclude a supervised deep learning algorithm. The trained model caninclude a long short-term memory model.

The trained model can be specific to the combination of the invasivemedical device and the imaging device. Other trained models can be usedfor other combinations of (i) the invasive medical device or otherinvasive medical devices and (ii) the imaging device or other imagingdevices. The database can store one or more of the other trained models.The imaging device can include an x-ray imaging device and the one ormore 2D images comprises one or more x-ray images. The imaging devicecan include an ultrasound device and the one or more 2D images comprisesone or more ultrasound images. The imaging device can include acomputerized tomography (“CT”) imaging device and the one or more 2Dimages comprises one or more CT scans. The imaging device can include amagnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) device and the one or more 2D imagescomprises one or more MRI images. The imaging device can include anuclear imaging device and the one or more 2D images can include one ormore nuclear images. The imaging device can include a magnetic resonanceimaging (“MRI”) device and the one or more 2D images comprises one ormore MRI images. The current orientation can include a current roll,pitch, and yaw of the invasive medical device. The current roll, pitch,and yaw can be in radian space, and the trained model is determinedusing a cosine distance loss function. The current roll, pitch, and yawcan be discretized and the trained model is determined using asigmoid-cross entropy. The current position can include (i) anterior andposterior position information, (ii) cranial and caudal positioninformation, and (iii) left and right position information. The currentorientation and position of the invasive medical device can bedetermined from a single image from the one or more 2D images. Thecurrent orientation and position of the invasive medical device can bedetermined from a sequence of images from the one or more 2D images. Thecurrent orientation and position of the invasive medical device can bedetermined from a single image from the one or more 2D images and areference image for the invasive medical device.

The disclosed techniques, systems, and devices can be used with any ofthe described imaging modalities with and/or without the administrationof contrast (e.g. angiography).

Certain implementations may provide one or more advantages. For example,imaging of medical instruments can be improved, which can allow medicalpractitioners to more accurately visualize the position and orientationof medical instruments before and/or during medical procedures. Thisadditional and improved information can allow practitioners to morequickly and safely perform medical procedures. For instance, havingthree-dimensional (“3D”) knowledge of both position and orientation of amedical device can allow a practitioner to more successfully, safely,and timely complete many operations. In contrast, 2D imaging technologycan inadequately represent the device's position and orientation, whichcan increase the time it takes practitioners to perform the procedures.Since the amount of radiation that a patient is exposed to isproportional to the duration of the procedure, longer procedures (suchas those performed using 2D imaging technology) can increase the amountradiation, which can introduce risks and costs to both the patient andthe operator. By providing practitioners with 3D information on adevice's position and orientation, a practitioner can more quickly andeffectively perform an operation, thereby reducing some of these risksfor both the patient and the practitioner.

In another example, 3D information (e.g., position information,orientation information) can be retrofitted to imaging devices that onlyprovide 2D imaging data. For example, by using machine learningtechniques to infer position and orientation information from 2D imagingdata, imaging devices that are traditionally only capable of providing2D imaging information can be augmented to provide 3D informationwithout additional specialized hardware or components. This can enhancethe operation of existing medical imaging devices at minimal expense.

The details of one or more embodiments are set forth in the accompanyingdrawings and the description below. Other features and advantages willbe apparent from the description and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example system for providing enhanced imaging of an examplemedical instrument.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustration of the output of an imaging system(radiograph) overlaid with the output of the automatic orientation andtranslation prediction system.

FIG. 3 depicts an IVC Filter with parts of the filter coated withalternative metals designed to absorb more or less of the emittedphotons. This produces the effect of bands along the device of variousgrayscale intensities.

FIG. 4 depicts an altered IVC filter with additional metal protrusionswhich aid the ability to determine the orientation and position of thedevice.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example technique for performing automaticinvasive device position and orientation predictions.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example machine learning architecture.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of example subnetworks.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of example computing devices.

FIG. 9 is an example image of an invasive object being localized viaimaging techniques.

Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of automatic invasive device orientationand position prediction technique embodiments, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part thereof, and show by way ofillustration examples by which the automatic invasive device orientationand position prediction technique embodiments described herein may bepracticed. It is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilizedand structural changes may be made without departing from the scope ofthe claimed subject matter.

1.0 Automatic Invasive Device Orientation and Position Prediction

The following sections provide an introduction to the automatic invasivedevice orientation and position prediction technique embodimentsdescribed herein, as well as exemplary implementations of processes andan architecture for practicing these embodiments. Details of variousembodiments and components are also provided.

As a preliminary matter, some of the figures that follow describeconcepts in the context of one or more structural components, variouslyreferred to as functionality, modules, features, elements, etc. Thevarious components shown in the figures can be implemented in anymanner. In one case, the illustrated separation of various components inthe figures into distinct units may reflect the use of correspondingdistinct components in an actual implementation. Alternatively, or inaddition, any single component illustrated in the figures may beimplemented by plural actual components. Alternatively, or in addition,the depiction of any two or more separate components in the figures mayreflect different functions performed by a single actual component.

Other figures describe the concepts in flowchart form. In this form,certain operations are described as constituting distinct blocksperformed in a certain order. Such implementations are illustrative andnon-limiting. Certain blocks described herein can be grouped togetherand performed in a single operation, certain blocks can be broken apartinto plural component blocks, and certain blocks can be performed in anorder that differs from that which is illustrated herein (including aparallel manner of performing the blocks). The blocks shown in theflowcharts can be implemented in any manner.

1.1 Introduction

In general, automatic invasive device position and orientationprediction techniques described herein are capable of inferring adevice's 3D orientation (roll, pitch, yaw) and 3D position (forward/backaka anterior/posterior, up/down aka cranial/caudal, left/right) from oneor more 2D images of said devices. This can be accomplished, forexample, via machine learning algorithms that learn, from 2D data, tocorrectly predict 3D information for a device, such as a device'sposition and orientation from a fixed or predefined origin and canonicalorientation. Operation with machine learning algorithms can include, forexample, (1) a training stage in which a machine learns to identifydevice positioning and orientation from annotated images of devices, and(2) an inference stage in which the now-trained machine infers adevice's position and/or orientation from images that do not include thetrue position or orientation of the device (no annotations available).While the description below entails learning both a device's positionand orientation, it applies equally well to learning to predict only adevice's position or orientation as well.

Automatic invasive device position and orientation prediction techniquesare described below with regard to FIGS. 1 and 5 . FIG. 1 is an examplesystem 100 for providing enhanced imaging of an example medicalinstrument. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example technique 500 forperforming automatic invasive device position and orientationpredictions, for instance, using the example system 100 or othersystems.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the example system 100 can be trained to predictabsolute or relative invasive object position and/or orientation. Anexample patient 1 is situated on an example operating table 2. Anexample invasive implement 3, such as filters, stents, drains, snares 4,and/or other devices are inserted into the patient 1. For instance, anIVC filter 3 and a snare 4 are depicted in FIG. 1 . Other configurationand/or device/instrument/implement combinations are also possible. Forexample, system 100 can be used to determine the position and/ororientation of any surgical or invasive device(s).

An example imaging device 5 is positioned such that the invasivedevice(s) 3 can be imaged. For instance, the device 5 can be afluoroscope that is used for imaging the device 3 and snare 4. Thedevice 5 can be any imaging device, such as ultrasound, CT, MRI, and/oroptical imaging device. The imaging device 5 sends and/or creates images(e.g., 2D imaging data) that are sent to a computer 7, as indicated bystep A. For example, the imaging device 5 can transmit fluoroscopy datavia a wired and/or wireless communications channel between the imagingdevice 5 and the computer 7. The computer 7 can be any of a variety ofappropriate computing devices, such as a desktop computer, tabletcomputing device, embedded computing device, and/or mobile computingdevice that is capable of receiving the 2D imaging data as it isdelivered from the imaging device 5. The computer 7 can access positionand orientation models from a data repository 10 that are specific tothe invasive devices 3, 4, and specific to the imaging device 5, asindicated by step B. Such models can have been trained by the computer 7and/or other computer(s) prior to the imaging data being received, andcan be continually updated/refined over time. The 2D imaging data can beapplied to the model to determine position and orientation of theimplement 3 and/or the device 4, as indicated by step C. The images canbe annotated with position and/or orientation information to provide a3D visualization of the implement 3 and/or the device 4 on a monitor 8to an operator performing the operation, as indicated by step D.

For example, an operator can interact with the computer 7 to (a)initialize the tracking of the position and orientation of a singledevice 3 from its origin, or (b) initialize the tracking of the positionand orientation between two devices 3, 4. Following initialization, asthe imaging device 5 produces new images, the position and orientationrequested by the operator are overlaid on top of the images produced anddisplayed on the monitor 8.

FIG. 2 is a screenshot 200 of an example output of an imaging system(radiograph) overlaid with the output of an automatic orientation andtranslation prediction system, such as the system 100. For example, thescreenshot 200 can be determined by the computer 7 and output on themonitor 8. In the depicted example, the screenshot 200 includes a targetdevice 202 and a source device 204 that are identified in an example 2Dimage 206. A position and orientation model for the device used toproduce the image 206 and for the target/source devices 202, 204, isretrieved and applied to the image 206 by the computer 7 to generateexample orientation and position information 208. In the depictedexample, the example information 208 includes visual guides to indicate3D orientation and position of the devices 202, 204, such as visualleft/right information 210, visual cranial/caudal information 212, andvisual anterior/posterior information 214. Other visual 3D positioninformation can additionally and/or alternatively be output as well,such as roll, pitch, and yaw information. Although the orientation andposition information 208 is overlaid on the side of the 2D image 206 inthis example, it can be incorporated and/or displayed with the image 206in other ways, such as being used to generate real time 3D graphicsdepicting the devices 202, 204 within the patient's body.

1.2 Training

Given one or more images of an invasive device, where each image isannotated with the device's position and/or orientation, a machinelearning algorithm can be trained to predict the position andorientation of the device that matches the annotation. For example, asupervised deep learning algorithm can be used to generate a model ofthe position and orientation of the device based on 2D images. Eachimage can be obtained from existing medical imaging techniques (e.g.x-rays, ultrasound, CT, MRI) and/or from computer generated imagery ofsuch devices. In the former case, human annotators may provide per-imageannotations of each device's position and orientation, whereas in thelatter case, such annotations may be generated automatically (Section1.2.1). In both cases, the labels do not annotate the pixels themselves,but rather exist as metadata to each image describing the relativepositions and/or orientations of the devices in the image. Suchannotations (e.g., labels) can be provided as inputs along with theimages themselves to one or more machine learning algorithms that canuse the inputs (e.g., images, annotations) to generate an imaging modelthat can be used to correctly predict 3D information for a device, suchas a device's position and orientation from a fixed or predefined originand canonical orientation.

For example, the example computer 7 can train one or more machinelearning algorithms using annotated data (e.g., images, annotations)that is specific to the imaging device 5 and the invasive devices 3, 4.Sections 1.2.1-1.2.4 describe example techniques for obtainingannotated/labeled training data, as indicated by step 502 in FIG. 5 .For example, images can be annotated with 3D orientation information(e.g., (roll, pitch, yaw) and position information (e.g., forward/backaka anterior/posterior, up/down aka cranial/caudal, left/right), whichcan be generated on real imaging data (e.g., images generated from amedical device being used on a patient) and/or from simulations (e.g.,computer generated imagery to mimic real images). Real images canadditionally and/or alternatively be annotated manually by qualifiedpractitioners interpreting the images (see Sec. 1.2.3). Images generatedfrom simulations can, by virtue of having been generated from asimulation, automatically provide orientation and/or positioninformation for the images (see Sec. 1.2.2). In some implementations,invasive devices may already be equipped with components that providesome orientation and/or position information that could be incorporatedinto model training and for position/orientation determinations. Forexample, drains have included markers that help the operator know whereside holes (where fluid enters the drain are) and the side holes arealready present in a certain orientation on current devices. Theposition and orientation of such markers can be incorporated with andused as part of the techniques described in this document to determinedevice orientation and/or position on devices that are equipped toprovide some orientation/position information, like the described drainin the preceding sentence.

1.2.1 Annotation of Images with Position and Orientation Information

To train a machine learning system to identify the position andorientation of one or more medical devices, a dataset can first becreated that represents examples of said devices and their correctpositions and orientations. Examples of such annotations include:

-   -   The position and orientation of a single device relative to a        fixed origin. For example, in a sequence of images, the position        and orientation of a device in any frame can be defined relative        to the position and orientation of the device or fixed element        in the first frame.    -   The position and orientation between two or more devices. For        example, the distance (position) and relative orientations can        be determined between an IVC filter and snare. An additional        example relates to orientation of a guidewire with a previously        placed stent.

1.2.2 Automatic Data Creation

To generate large amounts of labeled training data, computer generatedimagery can be synthetically created to mimic real images. For example,CG modeling software can be utilized to create a 3D model of theinvasive device and rendered using various photometric effects(blurring, synthetic occlusion) to mimic real medical images. Thisapproach can enable the automatic creation of large numbers of imagesthat are automatically labeled by the software that creates them. Forexample, a computer program can execute the rendering of a CG model of asingle IVC filter at various positions and orientations. Because thecomputer program chooses (possibly randomly) the position andorientation at which to render the IVC filter, the position andorientation can therefore be automatically paired with the createdimage.

1.2.3 Manual Data Annotation

When manually creating a dataset of images, a medical practitioner ormedical system can provide medical imagery with or without identifyingmarks or data. Such images can be labeled by one or more humans with thedevice's position and orientation.

1.2.4 Alteration of the Medical Device to Aid Inference

In certain cases, the invasive devices themselves may be altered to easethe task of such automatic inference. For example, invasive medicaldevices can be altered by:

-   -   coating existing devices with radiation absorbing material,        which can readily be detected and differentiated from other        surfaces and/or objects that are not coated (FIG. 3 ), and    -   designing devices with additional non-medical application other        than aiding the ability to automatically orient and position the        device (FIG. 4 ).

Additional, alternative, and/or other alterations of medical devices arealso possible. Such medical device alterations can be used incombination with the machine learning described throughout this documentto aid the machine in learning to predict device positions andorientations.

1.2.5 Example Machine Learning Model Architecture

Various machine learning architectures can be used and trained topredict relative position and orientations from imagery data, such asDeep Learning, Random Forests, AdaBoost and Support Vector Machines.FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example machine learning architecture600 that can be used and trained to predict relative position andorientations from imagery data. The example machine learningarchitecture 600 can be implemented on any of a variety of appropriatecomputing devices and systems, such as the computer 7 described abovewith regard to FIG. 1 . The example architecture 600 can be used toperform one or more portions of the technique 500, such as training amodel based on labeled training data (step 502) and/or applying a modelto unlabeled image data (step 510) and determining the position andorientation of the device (step 512).

The example machine learning system 600 receives data characterizing animage input 1000, such as pixel data from an image of arbitrary size(e.g., 2D imaging data from the imaging device 5). The image is then fedthrough an example convolutional layer 1001, an example pooling layer1002, an example set of residual layers 1003-1006, and another examplepooling layer 1007 that can pool the resulting features into outputs,such as the position 1008 and orientation 1009 of a medical device(e.g., the device 4) captured in the imaging data. The machine learningsystem 600 can generate the position 1008 and orientation 1009 outputsso as to augment/enhance the imaging data, such as providing predictiveposition for the device along a third dimension (instead just twodimensions represented in the imaging data) and/or orientation of thedevice relative to one or more reference points, planes, or axes.

In instances where the architecture 600 is being trained to generate apredictive model, the position/orientation annotations for the inputimage data 1000 that are provided as training data are compared to thepredictions for position 1008 and orientation 1009. The model's weightsare then updated accordingly, using an optimization algorithm, such asGradient Descent and/or the Adam Optimizer. When the architecture 600has been trained and is being used with unannotated image data, theposition 1008 and orientation 1009 that are output by the trained modelprovided by the architecture 600 can be used to supplement the imagedata in real time, for example, with on-screen annotations, overlaidgraphics/annotations, and/or other graphical features.

Each of one or more convolutional layers 1001 can represent, forexample, the convolution of a K×K set of N filters. These filters can beapplied at each input location at a specified stride. For example, astride of 1 indicates that each input is convolved with each K×K filterat that layer, whereas a stride of 2 indicates that every other input isconvolved.

For example, the first convolutional Layer 1001 can include 64 7×7filters and a stride of 2. The subsequent max pooling layer 1002 can usea 3×3 kernel of stride 2. The subsequent 4 residual layers (1003, 1004,1005, 1006) can each use a subnetwork that takes the output from theprevious stage as its input, performs a series of mathematicaloperations to that input, and produces a new transformed output. Theoutput from the final subnetwork 1006 can be passed to an averagepooling layer 1007 that produces a single vector of dimension 2048, forexample. This vector is the model's transformed representation of theimaging data from which the position and orientation are predicted. Theposition 1008 and the orientation 1009 can be in any of a variety offormats. For example, the position (or offset) 1008 can be a vector oflength 3 representing the distance between two objects in the input orthe distance between one object and a fixed reference point. In anotherexample, the orientation 1009 can be a vector of length 3 representingthe roll, pitch and yaw between two devices or between the device and afixed reference point. Other formats for the position 1008 and theorientation 1009 are also possible. The position 1008 and theorientation 1009 can be output in an interface presented in real time toa physician manipulating the device that is being imaged, like theexample interface that is depicted in FIG. 2 .

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of an example subnetwork 700, such as thesubnetworks A, B, C and D (1003-1006) described above with regard toFIG. 6 . For example, each of the subnetworks A-D (1003-1006) can beimplemented using an architecture that is the same as or similar to thesubnetwork 700. Some or all of the subnetworks A-D (1003-1006) can beimplemented using other architectures.

The example subnetwork 700 can be defined using three parameters: thenumber of feature map outputs D, the number of feature maps in thebottleneck layers B, and the stride S used to compute the convolutions.The subnetwork 700 takes an input vector 1010, and performs a series ofoperations along multiple pathways. In a first example pathway (1011), asingle 1×1 convolution 1011 with D filters is performed with stride S.In the second example pathway (1012-1014), a 1×1 convolution 1012 with Bfilters and stride 1 is performed, followed by a 3×3 convolution 1013with D filters and stride S, followed by a 1×1 convolution 1014 with Dfilters and stride 1. The resulting vectors from each of the multiplepathways can be summed 1015 and passed through a nonlinear function,such as a rectified linear unit, to generate output 1016. The resultingoutput 1016 can be, for example, a vector of dimension D whichrepresents the output of the subnetwork 700.

1.3 Inferring Position and Orientation Using a Trained Model

Inferring a device's position and orientation using a trained model (asdescribed above) can be done in any of a variety of ways, such asthrough inferring the position and orientation of a device from a singleimage, inferring the position and orientation of a device from a singleimage given one or more reference images, and/or inferring the positionand orientation of a device from a sequence of images. For example, aposition and orientation model for the device can be trained onannotated/labeled data (e.g., single image, single image in light ofreference images, sequence of images), as indicated by step 504 in FIG.5 and described above. Such a model can then be used to infer positionand orientation information from raw/unannotated image data. Forexample, image data (e.g., single image, single image and referenceimage, sequence of images) can be received (step 506), the trained modelcan be accessed (step 508), the model can be applied to the image data(step 510) to interpret the images and predict the position andorientation of an invasive device (step 512), and the predictedorientation and position information can be output (step 514). Examplesof training a model to infer position and orientation information usingdifferent image data are described below in sections 1.3.1-1.3.3.

1.3.1 Inferring the Position and Orientation of a Single Image

To predict the position and orientation of a device from a single image,a dataset can be assembled containing a series of images, real orsynthetic (CG), each of which can be annotated with the device'sposition and orientation. A machine learning algorithm, for example, asupervised deep learning algorithm, can then be trained to predict theposition and orientation of the device in the image. The predictedorientation for roll, pitch and yaw can be in radian space, in whichcase a cosine distance loss function can be used. Alternatively, theroll, pitch and yaw may be discretized and a sigmoid-cross entropy canbe used for training.

1.3.2 Inferring the Position and Orientation of a Device from a SingleImage and a Reference Image

To predict the position and orientation of a device from an image and areference image, a dataset can be assembled containing pairs of images.Each pair can include a source image and a target image. The sourceimage can be considered the reference image from which the position andorientation is measured. For example, the source image can be a devicein a canonical or origin location/orientation. The target image can beof the same device, but translated and/or rotated. Each pair of imagescan be annotated with the translation and rotation of the device betweenthe source and target images. A machine learning algorithm, for example,a supervised deep learning algorithm, can be trained to predict theposition and orientation of the device in the image. The predictedorientation for roll, pitch and yaw can be in radian space, in whichcase a cosine distance loss function is used. Alternatively, the rollpitch and yaw can be discretized and a sigmoid-cross entropy used fortraining.

1.3.3 Inferring the Position and Orientation of a Device from a Sequenceof Images

To predict the position and orientation of a device from a sequence ofimages, a dataset can be assembled with image sequences. Each sequence(of one or more images) can be annotated with position and orientationlabels. A machine learning algorithm, for example, a long short-termmemory (LSTM) model, can be trained to predict the position andorientation of the device in the image. The predicted orientation forroll, pitch and yaw can be in radian space, in which case a cosinedistance loss function is used. Alternatively, the roll pitch and yawcan be discretized and a sigmoid-cross entropy used for training.

1.4 Utilization of the Automatic Position and Orientation PredictionBetween Multiple Devices

An operator can use the aforementioned devices and prediction mechanismas follows. An invasive device(s) can be inserted into the patient andthe imaging mechanism (e.g., x-ray, ultrasound, CT, MRI) is orientedtowards the patient to produce initial imaging of the patient'sinternals and the invasive device. A computer can receive the output ofthe imaging mechanism (e.g., the raw 2D images themselves), as indicatedby step 506. The computer can access a model trained on the imagingmechanism and the invasive device(s), as indicated by step 508. Themodel can be applied to the imaging data, as indicated by step 510, tointerpret the images and predict the position and orientation of theinvasive device(s) using the trained machine learning algorithm, asindicated by step 512. The predicted position and orientation can beused to augment the 2D imaging data (e.g., overlaid, provided adjacentto the 2D image), as indicated by step 514, and can be displayed to thepractitioner, as indicated by step 516. For example, displaying thisinformation can be done on a separate monitor or by overlaying thepredictions on top of the raw images themselves.

FIG. 9 depicts example object inserted into the body such as a needle,wire, catheter, stent or probe, can be localized relative to auser-specified landmark (e.g. a lesion, specific part of a body, foreignbody or second medical device (green dot) via any imaging modality suchas fluoroscopy, ultrasound or MRI. Note that this does not require anyspecialized equipment nor materials used for the inserted objects and/orpositioning of medically invasive devices, but instead providesadditional information to assist in guiding the device through imageanalysis techniques described throughout this document.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of computing devices 800, 850 that may be usedto implement the systems and methods described in this document, aseither a client or as a server or plurality of servers. Computing device800 is intended to represent various forms of digital computers, such aslaptops, desktops, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers,blade servers, mainframes, and other appropriate computers. Computingdevice 850 is intended to represent various forms of mobile devices,such as personal digital assistants, cellular telephones, smartphones,and other similar computing devices. Additionally computing device 800or 850 can include Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash drives. The USBflash drives may store operating systems and other applications. The USBflash drives can include input/output components, such as a wirelesstransmitter or USB connector that may be inserted into a USB port ofanother computing device. The components shown here, their connectionsand relationships, and their functions, are meant to be exemplary only,and are not meant to limit implementations described and/or claimed inthis document.

Computing device 800 includes a processor 802, memory 804, a storagedevice 806, a high-speed interface 808 connecting to memory 804 andhigh-speed expansion ports 810, and a low speed interface 812 connectingto low speed bus 814 and storage device 806. Each of the components 802,804, 806, 808, 810, and 812, are interconnected using various busses,and may be mounted on a common motherboard or in other manners asappropriate. The processor 802 can process instructions for executionwithin the computing device 800, including instructions stored in thememory 804 or on the storage device 806 to display graphical informationfor a GUI on an external input/output device, such as display 816coupled to high speed interface 808. In other implementations, multipleprocessors and/or multiple buses may be used, as appropriate, along withmultiple memories and types of memory. Also, multiple computing devices800 may be connected, with each device providing portions of thenecessary operations (e.g., as a server bank, a group of blade servers,or a multi-processor system).

The memory 804 stores information within the computing device 800. Inone implementation, the memory 804 is a volatile memory unit or units.In another implementation, the memory 804 is a non-volatile memory unitor units. The memory 804 may also be another form of computer-readablemedium, such as a magnetic or optical disk.

The storage device 806 is capable of providing mass storage for thecomputing device 800. In one implementation, the storage device 806 maybe or contain a computer-readable medium, such as a floppy disk device,a hard disk device, an optical disk device, or a tape device, a flashmemory or other similar solid state memory device, or an array ofdevices, including devices in a storage area network or otherconfigurations. A computer program product can be tangibly embodied inan information carrier. The computer program product may also containinstructions that, when executed, perform one or more methods, such asthose described above. The information carrier is a computer- ormachine-readable medium, such as the memory 804, the storage device 806,or memory on processor 802.

The high speed controller 808 manages bandwidth-intensive operations forthe computing device 800, while the low speed controller 812 manageslower bandwidth-intensive operations. Such allocation of functions isexemplary only. In one implementation, the high-speed controller 808 iscoupled to memory 804, display 816 (e.g., through a graphics processoror accelerator), and to high-speed expansion ports 810, which may acceptvarious expansion cards (not shown). In the implementation, low-speedcontroller 812 is coupled to storage device 806 and low-speed expansionport 814. The low-speed expansion port, which may include variouscommunication ports (e.g., USB, Bluetooth, Ethernet, wireless Ethernet)may be coupled to one or more input/output devices, such as a keyboard,a pointing device, a scanner, or a networking device such as a switch orrouter, e.g., through a network adapter.

The computing device 800 may be implemented in a number of differentforms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as astandard server 820, or multiple times in a group of such servers. Itmay also be implemented as part of a rack server system 824. Inaddition, it may be implemented in a personal computer such as a laptopcomputer 822. Alternatively, components from computing device 800 may becombined with other components in a mobile device (not shown), such asdevice 850. Each of such devices may contain one or more of computingdevice 800, 850, and an entire system may be made up of multiplecomputing devices 800, 850 communicating with each other.

Computing device 850 includes a processor 852, memory 864, aninput/output device such as a display 854, a communication interface866, and a transceiver 868, among other components. The device 850 mayalso be provided with a storage device, such as a Microdrive or otherdevice, to provide additional storage. Each of the components 850, 852,864, 854, 866, and 868, are interconnected using various buses, andseveral of the components may be mounted on a common motherboard or inother manners as appropriate.

The processor 852 can execute instructions within the computing device850, including instructions stored in the memory 864. The processor maybe implemented as a chipset of chips that include separate and multipleanalog and digital processors. Additionally, the processor may beimplemented using any of a number of architectures. For example, theprocessor 810 may be a CSC (Complex Instruction Set Computers)processor, a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) processor, or aMISC (Minimal Instruction Set Computer) processor. The processor mayprovide, for example, for coordination of the other components of thedevice 850, such as control of user interfaces, applications run bydevice 850, and wireless communication by device 850.

Processor 852 may communicate with a user through control interface 858and display interface 856 coupled to a display 854. The display 854 maybe, for example, a TFT (Thin-Film-Transistor Liquid Crystal Display)display or an OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) display, or otherappropriate display technology. The display interface 856 may compriseappropriate circuitry for driving the display 854 to present graphicaland other information to a user. The control interface 858 may receivecommands from a user and convert them for submission to the processor852. In addition, an external interface 862 may be used to provide incommunication with processor 852, so as to enable near areacommunication of device 850 with other devices. External interface 862may provide, for example, for wired communication in someimplementations, or for wireless communication in other implementations,and multiple interfaces may also be used.

The memory 864 stores information within the computing device 850. Thememory 864 can be implemented as one or more of a computer-readablemedium or media, a volatile memory unit or units, or a non-volatilememory unit or units. Expansion memory 874 may also be provided andconnected to device 850 through expansion interface 872, which mayinclude, for example, a SIMM (Single In Line Memory Module) cardinterface. Such expansion memory 874 may provide extra storage space fordevice 850, or may also store applications or other information fordevice 850. Specifically, expansion memory 874 may include instructionsto carry out or supplement the processes described above, and mayinclude secure information also. Thus, for example, expansion memory 874may be used to provide as a security module for device 850, and may beprogrammed with instructions that permit secure use of device 850. Inaddition, secure applications may be provided via the SIMM cards, alongwith additional information, such as placing identifying information onthe SIMM card in a non-hackable manner.

The memory may include, for example, flash memory and/or NVRAM memory,as discussed below. In one implementation, a computer program product istangibly embodied in an information carrier. The computer programproduct contains instructions that, when executed, perform one or moremethods, such as those described above. The information carrier is acomputer- or machine-readable medium, such as the memory 864, expansionmemory 874, or memory on processor 852 that may be received, forexample, over transceiver 868 or external interface 862.

Device 850 may communicate wirelessly through communication interface866, which may include digital signal processing circuitry wherenecessary. Communication interface 866 may provide for communicationsunder various modes or protocols, such as GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, orMMS messaging, CDMA. TDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, or GPRS, among others.Such communication may occur, for example, through radio-frequencytransceiver 868. In addition, short-range communication may occur, suchas using a Bluetooth, WiFi, or other such transceiver (not shown). Inaddition, GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver module 870 may,provide additional navigation- and location-related wireless data todevice 850, which may be used as appropriate by applications running ondevice 850.

Device 850 may also communicate audibly using audio codec 860, which mayreceive spoken information from a user and convert it to usable digitalinformation. Audio codec 860 may likewise generate audible sound for auser, such as through a speaker, e.g., in a handset of device 850. Suchsound may include sound from voice telephone calls, may include recordedsound (e.g., voice messages, music files, etc.) and may also includesound generated by applications operating on device 850.

The computing device 850 may be implemented in a number of differentforms, as shown in the figure. For example, it may be implemented as acellular telephone 880. It may also be implemented as part of asmartphone 882, personal digital assistant, or other similar mobiledevice.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here canbe realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry,specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits),computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.These various implementations can include implementation in one or morecomputer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processor, whichmay be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data andinstructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storagesystem, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

These computer programs (also known as programs, software, softwareapplications or code) include machine instructions for a programmableprocessor, and can be implemented in a high-level procedural and/orobject-oriented programming language, and/or in assembly/machinelanguage. As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” and“computer-readable medium” refers to any computer program product,apparatus and/or device (e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory,Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs)) used to provide machine instructionsand/or data to a programmable processor, including a machine-readablemedium that receives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal.The term “machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to providemachine instructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniquesdescribed here can be implemented on a computer having a display device(e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor)for displaying information to the user and a keyboard and a pointingdevice (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) by which the user can provideinput to the computer. Other kinds of devices can be used to provide forinteraction with a user as well; for example, feedback provided to theuser can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback,auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can bereceived in any form, including acoustic, speech, or tactile input.

The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in acomputing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a dataserver), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an applicationserver), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computerhaving a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a usercan interact with an implementation of the systems and techniquesdescribed here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, orfront end components. The components of the system can be interconnectedby any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., acommunication network). Examples of communication networks include alocal area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), peer-to-peernetworks (having ad-hoc or static members), grid computinginfrastructures, and the Internet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

Although a few implementations have been described in detail above,other modifications are possible. Moreover, other mechanisms forperforming the systems and methods described in this document may beused. In addition, the logic flows depicted in the figures do notrequire the particular order shown, or sequential order, to achievedesirable results. Other steps may be provided, or steps may beeliminated, from the described flows, and other components may be addedto, or removed from, the described systems. Accordingly, otherimplementations are within the scope of the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system for augmenting imaging datadepicting an invasive medical device, the system comprising: an invasivemedical device configured to be inserted into a patient as part of amedical procedure, wherein the invasive medical device includes one ormore markers with different radiation absorbing properties relative toother portions of the invasive medical device; an imaging deviceconfigured to generate one or more images of the invasive medical deviceinside the patient, wherein the imaging device is separate from theinvasive medical device and is capable of being positioned at a vantagepoint relative to the patient; a database programmed to store a trainedmodel for the invasive medical device, the trained model being generatedfrom one or more machine learning algorithms trained on annotated imagesof the invasive medical device annotated with (i) marker informationidentifying the one or more markers and (ii) spatial information for theinvasive medical device, wherein the trained model is used to determinespatial information for the invasive medical device within the patientfrom unannotated images of the invasive medical device; an imagingcomputer system programmed to: receive the one or more images of theinvasive medical device inside the patient from the imaging device,wherein the one or more images include depictions of the one or moremarkers, access the trained model for the invasive medical device fromthe database, determine current spatial information of the invasivemedical device inside the patient by applying the trained model to theone or more images of the invasive medical device with the depictions ofthe one or more markers, and output the current spatial information ofthe invasive medical device; and a display configured to monitor theinvasive medical device inside the patient, wherein the display isprogrammed to output (i) the one or more images of the invasive medicaldevice inside the patient as captured by the imaging device, and (ii)visual spatial information representing the current spatial informationof the invasive medical device inside the patient as determined fromapplication of the trained model to the one or more images.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1, further comprising: a training computer system togenerate the trained model for the invasive medical device having theone or more markers, the training computer system being programmed to:obtain the annotated images of the invasive medical device having theone or more markers with spatial information, the annotated imagesdepicting the invasive medical device inside a patient, the spatialinformation identifying spatial postures of the invasive medical devicehaving the one or more markers in the annotated images, iterativelytrain a model for the invasive medical device by correlating each of theannotated images to corresponding spatial information across one or moremodel layers using the one or more machine learning algorithms, whereinthe iterative training generates the trained model for the invasivemedical device, and store the trained model for use by the imagingcomputer system.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein at least a portion ofthe annotated images are actual images from use of the invasive medicaldevice having the one or more markers that have been manually annotatedby a practitioner with spatial information.
 4. The system of claim 2,wherein at least a portion of the annotated images are computergenerated images simulating use of the invasive medical device insidepatients as imaged by the imaging device.
 5. The system of claim 2,wherein the one or more machine learning algorithms comprises asupervised deep learning algorithm.
 6. The system of claim 2, whereinthe trained model comprises a long short-term memory model.
 7. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the one or more markers comprise one or morealterations to the invasive medical device that have a non-medicalapplication.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein: the trained model isspecific to the combination of the invasive medical device having theportion coated with the radiation absorption material and the imagingdevice, and other trained models are used for other combinations of (i)the invasive medical device or other invasive medical devices and (ii)the imaging device or other imaging devices.
 9. The system of claim 1,wherein the imaging device comprises an x-ray imaging device and the oneor more images comprises one or more x-ray images.
 10. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the imaging device comprises an ultrasound device andthe one or more images comprises one or more ultrasound images.
 11. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the imaging device comprises a computerizedtomography (“CT”) imaging device and the one or more images comprisesone or more CT scans.
 12. The system of claim 1, wherein the imagingdevice comprises a magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”) device and the oneor more images comprises one or more MRI images.
 13. The system of claim1, wherein: the spatial information in the annotated images comprisesorientation information that identifies orientations of the invasivemedical device in the annotated images, the current spatial informationcomprises a current orientation of the invasive medical device withinthe patient, and the visual spatial information comprises visualorientation information representing the current orientation of theinvasive medical device within the patient as determined fromapplication of the trained model to the one or more images.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein: the current orientation comprises a currentroll, pitch, and yaw of the invasive medical device, and the visualorientation information includes visual roll information, visual pitchinformation, and visual yaw information that is presented in the displaywith the one or more images and the visual position information.
 15. Thesystem of claim 13, wherein the current roll, pitch, and yaw isdiscretized and the trained model is determined using a sigmoid-crossentropy.
 16. The system of claim 1, wherein: the spatial information inthe annotated images comprises position information that identifiespositions of the invasive medical device in the annotated images, thecurrent spatial information comprises a current position of the invasivemedical device within the patient, and the visual spatial informationcomprises visual position information representing the current positionof the invasive medical device within the patient as determined fromapplication of the trained model to the one or more images.
 17. Thesystem of claim 16, wherein: the current position comprises (i) anteriorand posterior position information, (ii) cranial and caudal positioninformation, and (iii) left and right position information, and thevisual position information includes visual anterior and posteriorposition information, visual cranial and caudal position information,and visual left and right position information that is presented in thedisplay with the one or more images and the visual orientationinformation.
 18. The system of claim 1, wherein: the spatial informationin the annotated images comprises orientation and position informationthat identifies orientations and positions of the invasive medicaldevice in the annotated images, the current spatial informationcomprises a current orientation and a current position of the invasivemedical device within the patient, and the visual spatial informationcomprises visual orientation information representing the currentorientation of the invasive medical device within the patient and visualposition information representing the current position of the invasivemedical device within the patient.
 19. The system of claim 1, whereinthe one or more markers comprise one or more portions of the invasivemedical device being coated with a material that absorbs emitted photonsdifferently from the other portions of the invasive medical device thatare either uncoated or coated in a different material.
 20. The system ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more markers comprise one or more portionsof the invasive medical device being made of a material that absorbsemitted photons differently from the other portions of the invasivemedical device made of a different material.